Press

Slipknot: Tightening The Noose

By Cathy A. Campagna
01.30.2009
The Aquarian Weekly

Under the magnifying glass, any art form can be considered an essence, or even indelible fingerprint left behind by the soul of its creator. Upon speaking to M. Shwan Crahan or Clown of Slipknot you'll find that the percussionist completely embodies that principle. He is unpredictable, unapologetic, cerebral, raw and maintains a fervent course. Those qualities are at the core of Slipknot's fourth release, All Hope Is Gone.

The nine piece band that put Iowa on the map have set themselves apart since their conception. Giving the world music and a visual the likes of which it has never experienced before. Refreshingly, Clown proudly owns that fact. Together with DJ Sid Wilson, drummer Joey Jordison, Paul Gray, Chris Fehn, James Root, Craig Jones, Mick Thomson and Corey Taylor, Slipknot continues to conjure inspired arrangements and lyrics that resonated with enough of the record buying population to propel them to the very top of the charts. Maybe it’s because they remain as ever morphing as society itself.

Before embarking on their headlining tour with Trivium and Coheed and Cambria, Clown spoke of what drives Slipknot's brutal yet distinctive opuses, candidly revealed what sort of danger his soul faces on a daily basis and how he views Slipknot's place in the world of music today.

What was it like when you heard All Hope Is Gone went No. 1?

Well for me, not to sound pessimistic or anything, but I really do feel in my heart, in my spirit, that ten years ago, when we set out into the world in search of our dreams, I had to leave my wife and my kids behind, we were No. 1 when we made that decision. We have been No. 1 everyday since then. Everyday since we have been kicking in the door and it’s just taken the world this long to catch up to our vision. I am not one of those guys who really needs that sort of recognition, because I have been working for so hard for so long, I just feel like we have been winners ever since we stood up for what we believe in, which is Slipknot. Does it make me happy? Sure! But it also has a double-sided sword to it, because now we get a weird thought process where it's like next time are they going to set us up to be No.2? So they can talk about how we are not No. 1 anymore? That's all the crap that I can't stand about this business, I just work hard every single day, and the band works hard every single day, just to do what we do, and that's our art. Yeah, it does feel good, but I think we have been No. 1 for 10 years.

I think that’s a big lesson for any artist to learn.

Yeah, I think they set us up for what they need fundamentally. We are big right now so people need us for their magazines, they need us for their videos, their radio, their TV programming, and it's all based on money, well this has never been monetary for us. This has been my dream, and to sacrifice and go out and do what we want, our life is to live out what we do. It's always been about sacrifice, it has never been money driven. So it's funny to wait for the world to catch up us. They have deemed us No. 1, because of whatever... I have never subscribed into that nor will I ever, but it looks like I am going to have to work harder now. I know it could sound a little hypocritical, sure it makes me feel good, but at the same time, but at the same time, it makes me go, "Ahh...here we go, the stress!" I feel like we work hard enough already, but now, we have to go to the next level.

I understand that All Hope Is Gone has been the most collaborative record the band has written. With that being said, is this the most self-realized record, is this the record that Slipknot was born to make?

As far as that statement goes, to be brutally honest with you, I feel just the opposite for this one. I feel like this record is a bridge into the future. I believe that the last record was a lot of rehabilitating our friendship and coming together, and some people realizing that there are all kinds of people in this band with something to say and something to do. We did get into a mindset for this record with everyone being allowed to be themselves. We have a saying that, "The pieces are only as good as a whole." That means that you could be real selfish in this band, but it's really the band that matters. Know your place, know what matters. Don't try to set yourself apart and make yourself more important. Realize that Slipknot is an entity. It's nine guys making up a whole. In this band it's getting more important to allow everyone their ability to bring something musical to the band, and I believe that that's getting better. But I look towards the future where it's going to be even more of allowing everyone what they have to get out and that's the real trick in this band. It's going to take time. We have been together ten years and we have only put out four records, and take a lot of time in between records. But we look at bands that started at the same time as us, and they'll have seven records, and over half of them are crap! They just wanted to get off their whole fundamental idea of what they thought they had to get out, put it on their resume and have control. Slipknot has never been that way, we just want to put out art that we believe in, and if takes three years to do it...well, that's a good problem to have. We have four distinct canvases that we have painted and they all belong to different realms. None of them are derivative or contrived of each other. That speaks a lot to me...that we just have sincerity in our music. The integrity is something that we hold and the art form. So I think that we are getting better in allowing ourselves to trust ourselves more. Everyone in the band is really pushing themselves to be the best that they can be. There were a lot of things with this album that were the worst case scenario, but every record has its fair share of problems, but you just overcome them and you move to the future.

Would you say thematically, the record isn't just about fighting the demons within, but it kind of holds up a mirror saying that society is just a reflection of who we are?

That's another reason why we take so long to do it, because we are a touring band. I have never made a dollar off of selling a record. I could care less about the record. Is it fun, do I like doing it, do I like the art, do I like recording? Yeah! That stuff is all great, but that's not what I got in it for. I got in it for the living experience, the living experience is who am I in this society, where is my place? We tour for so long and we work so hard that after a tour cycle, we need to decompress. Just to remember who I am, and get back involved in my life and then after those six months, you start taking a good look around you, and the spiritual problems in this world, the political problems, the individual problems, and you take everything that you witnessed and everything that you experienced and the next thing you know, you're writing a new record. You reach within to get to who you are at that point. You need to take that time to realize what you are.

You brought up the fact that you're a touring band, it was pretty surprising to hear that you have Coheed and Cambria on the bill. Is that a nod to how experimental and expansive the band has become musically?

Yeah, I am not a big fan of making people happy genre wise, I have always said it. No disrespect to metal, but I am in Slipknot not because we are metal band, but because we make our own music. If it needs to be in the genre considered metal, that's great for everyone, but I am not even a huge fan of metal. Do I like metal, yeah! But I can’t stand bringing some contrived tour to the kids. I want to be a forefather of kids coming and experiencing one band in this realm, and a band like Coheed that is so different than us, but they are successful in their art. That's important. I think it is more important to leave Slipknot fans with their minds expanding, and you can't do that by pounding them with four similar things. Not that anyone else is remotely close to us, because we are own thing. But I am at the point now where we just need to get variety and that is what this is all about...experiencing different levels of art. It's definitely exciting for me, because we get board. I get extremely board with the same crap over and over again. This definitely feels right, because it's like there is some danger here, and danger is good for the soul, fear is good for the soul. If it is going to make kids work things out, and see thing differently. It's risk taking, not that I feel like it's a risk, but other people feel that it's different enough that they have to bring it up. I feel it's only natural, but it excites me.

You said something really interesting there, danger is good for the soul. What kind of dangers have you had to face that have been good for your soul within the last 10 years?

I made the conscious decision to be married and have children. Luckily, I have the support of my family to allow me to live out my dream. That's danger everyday; my kids grow up so quick. I have consciously decided to miss a lot of their life, to selfishly pursue this dream of mine own as art...music. Something that I have needed since I was a little kid, so the biggest danger of all is knowing that every time I selfishly get on a bus to go live the experience, people change and I miss out on love and happiness. Last record cycle, I lost my father two weeks before we were done, so it's like I spent a lot of time wondering how that could even happen. The only answer, I can give myself to this day is that life is random. It's so random that you can't even control your process. That's dangerous, knowing that you have two weeks left to a 14 to 18 month tour cycle, I could have had two years off with my father doing numerous things. The message is take them while you got them, because people disappear from this realm, never to be seen again. That's danger, I live that everyday now. Every time I leave, I know that there are people in my life that might not be there later. You know what I mean? That kind of stuff is really heavy and all artists who do this for a living, who do this for real, experience that kind of stuff. It starts with birthdays, anniversaries, and weddings, and then it moves up to funerals, these are kind if things that we have to be alright with. Well, I am still not alright with it, but these are the things that you are going to have to be wiling to accept in order to pursue a selfish vision, and it's dangerous. It's fear in the utmost horrifying aspect that you could ever realize.

Wow, thank you for that honesty.

I appreciate the question.

You also directed a documentary for the band recently, is that another artistic avenue you would want to pursue?

Yeah, I am proud of doing the film. I mean, I am really, really proud of doing the film and I am always working on my angle of how to portray things. It's all matter opinion some people might have watched Voliminal [: Inside the Nine] and just couldnt stand it, because of the way it moves and the artiness of it. But I try to reprogram what people think about this band in their minds. That's what excites me. That's what I like to do, and I am going to continue to do it, whether the label will accept it, or my band will accept it, or the even world will accept it, I am going to continue to do it. I don't really care, because I am driven by these visions. I am compelled. I see metaphors and it's my job to connect the dots, so pretty soon the dots add up to an hour-and-a-half of conceptual thinking. But I do love it, and I am working on some stuff right now, but it takes time. I am constantly collecting, and I think that's half the battle. I am always collecting Slipknot shows, and they go into a vault, and they get downloaded and they get looked at. It's a matter of waiting for the inspiration, something different than what's been done before pops, and when it pops, I connect the dots, and then hopefully, it works out for everyone.

Dirty Little Rabbit has another EP coming out soon, correct?

Yep, our first EP was called Breeding, it was three songs, and we went on a couple of tours. We have an EP called Simon being released on January 27th, then we are going to release our full-length album somewhere around April 7th. Dirty Little Rabbit is more selfish. Whereas earlier I was telling you that I am only one ninth of Slipknot. It's the music that I want to make, it's the music that I want to perform, and it's the music that I want to write.

You have achieved balance in life, and that's more than most can say.

I have both realms, and they are both polar opposites. When I am in Slipknot mode, I am moving in one direction, so it's easy to go over and move in another direction, because it's behind you. They both move in opposite directions making it very easy to jump on that spaceship and ride it in another direction.

What is tour preparation like for you guys, the physical aspect of it for you as to be more intense then for many other bands? What do you do as far as any mental or physical prep work?

We have an ongoing joke that we always say to each other, "You're not going to get out of it." With that said, you just have to jump in. For this upcoming tour that we are going to do, we just spent two weeks in Japan, one week in New Zealand and Australia, and seven weeks in Europe. If don't know what we are doing by now, we might as well get out of the game. We had like almost fives weeks off, and we are going to get together on the 20th and rehearse for like three or fours hours, and take the 21st off, and then the 22nd we leave Dies Moines at noon for rehearsal in St Paul, MN, which is where the first show is, and we’ll rehearse from like 5 to 9. So two rehearsals, and they won’t be dress rehearsals, they won't be us running around and doing whatever. Then the 23rd will be the first show, and whether you like it or not, get ready because you are not going to get out of it. We are magic, that's really the insanity of what goes on and the pain involved. When you show up on the 23rd and you slap the masks on, a lot of pain is going to occur. But this pain that we require is the pain that we invented. It's the pain that only we know. The whole world will never know what its like to be us, and that's half of the excitement and half of the challenge is becoming us again. You can't really prepare for it; you can't really practice for that show, because there is too much adrenaline and too many other things that occur.

How did you view Slipknot fitting into the musical tapestry today?

I listen to everyone bitch and moan, the industry is this or how fans are stealing music off the internet and how this label let 250 people go. This music company isn't working, and everyone is doing 360 deals, and labels have to get involved with merchandising now when they used to make fun of it. They have to have a part of the band's merch, publishing and touring, labels are getting involved in management, because nobody can figure it the fuck out. What I am saying is that everything might be down and everything might be bad, but the love for rock n' roll is bigger than ever. In today's society, and what's going on and how shitty the world is, and all the shit that we have to look at, the need for music is more than ever, and I believe Slipknot is in the top percent. There is not another band, there is not another art form...nothing in this entire world is anything close to us! We are our own thing, we are special. I will be here for many, many years to come hopefully, and I never know when it's going end. I don't know if things will change, because of the obstacles that I am confronted with. One day, I might want to quit just because it's become too surreal and it's hard, but I manage to get a hold of it. So I view us...we are A+, we are in the top one percent. I can say that, because our fans are real, nothing of what we do is a lie, we play extreme music, and we have an extreme show. I mean, I know bands that have three members, and they last two years, and then all of the sudden, they have musical differences. I spit on those bands. I spit on that crap! All these bands that are trying reflect off of the Beatles, trying to recreate some melody and trying to recreate the Beatles, I spit on that shit, too! We are a culture, Slipknot is a culture. We identify with living humans that have pain, and need to get it out, and look to us to get it out, to get out their passion. So I view us as it, and I don’t care who you are or what you have done, come watch a Slipknot show and see what you’re not doing. We are the real deal. I see us as something very well needed for this world. I could care less if the business of rock n' roll is failing; it has nothing to do with us, because we are not failing. I go to a show and people are there, because it's true and it's needed. We are going to continue bringing it until we can't do it anymore, we are going to hang it up and we are going to disappear, but I am not going to sit around bellyaching. I am not traditional music, I don't have something out, because it's big right now, and when it's not, I am going to disappear. Like nine out of ten of all the bands that are out. They come out with their tricks and their bullshit, and they are out. Where are they now? Well, I will tell you where we are, we are still doing exactly what we have been doing for 10 years, but we are just getting better. I have no time to play games with anybody anymore about what Slipknot is, we are what we are and that's the real deal.

Slipknot performs at Madison Square Garden in NYC on Feb. 5 and at Camden, NJ's Susquehanna Bank Center on Feb. 7.